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(04/21/99 9:00am)
An amendment to the plan will make officials look more closely at the new requirement. Thirty-three faculty members voted yesterday in favor of the Committee on Undergraduate Education's proposal to test a revision of the existing curriculum of the College of Arts and Sciences -- including an experimental overhaul of the General Requirement -- under the condition that some specific revisions to the plan be made by December. Approximately 65 professors in the School of Arts and Sciences attended yesterday's weekly meeting, but only 44 faculty members voted, with 11 voting against the implementation of the proposal and several others leaving the meeting before the vote occurred. Political Science Professor Will Harris proposed an amendment suggesting that CUE re-examine the specific content of the four required courses that could be offered under the pilot curriculum. In his proposal, Harris said CUE needs to ensure the four proposed course categories offer as much diverse material as does the current General Requirement, which includes 10 courses. Although yesterday's vote does not ensure that the pilot curriculum will be implemented exactly as it now stands, it does represent a major step forward for the 18-member CUE, which created the proposal. College administrators said they were very pleased with the results, noting that the vote was anything but a foregone conclusion. "I made a decision that I would walk in the faculty meeting and let them decide," College Dean Richard Beeman said. "I had no idea what was going to happen." Beeman added that he was "delighted" that the majority of faculty members in attendance were receptive to CUE's proposal and he acknowledged that dissension in the faculty ranks is inevitable, even necessary, at such a meeting. "The faculty wants, appropriately, to continue to say that this is our curriculum," Beeman said. And SAS Dean Samuel Preston said he "didn't really know what to expect. It was hard to know what the outcome would be." The most striking aspect of the proposal is the recommendation that 200 students -- beginning in the fall of 2000 -- be exempted from fulfilling the College's existing General Requirement. Instead, randomly selected members of the Class of 2004 who express interest in participating will participate in a "pilot curriculum" requiring them to take one course in each of four specified categories, one per semester during their freshman and sophomore years. The proposed categories -- which are tentatively titled "Freedom, Equality and Community," "Science, Culture and Society," "Earth, Space and Life" and "Imagination, Representation and Reality" -- are broad-based and interdisciplinary in nature, though the actual course content will be further considered. Sociology Professor Ivar Berg, who spoke in favor of the proposal and helped design the current General Requirement in 1987, said he thinks the faculty is "on the right path" with the proposal, adding that the curriculum is "due for change." But Biology Professor Eric Weinberg, one of the more outspoken opponents of the new curriculum, explained that he is "not convinced that any of these courses will be any better than the good, discipline-based courses that we have now [in the General Requirement]." Harris also said he considered some of the course descriptions too vague to fully analyze them at this point but added that he was pleased both the amendment and the proposal passed. "Since we don't have great detail at this point? it seemed appropriate for us to say that we wanted to look at the proposal again after it had been developed," Harris said. Preston called Harris' suggestion "perfectly sensible," and Beeman agreed, claiming that he "leapt to his feet to embrace [the amendment]." Student Committee on Undergraduate Education Chairperson Aaron Fidler, a Wharton junior, said Harris' suggestion was a critical part of the meeting, encouraging "a lot of people who were somewhat iffy" to side with the proposal.
(04/15/99 9:00am)
Princeton's John DiIulio and Stanford's Jerome Maddox will begin teaching American Politics courses in the fall. The Political Science Department has officially hired two new faculty members, representing the first new appointments in more than a year for the undermanned department, School of Arts and Sciences Dean Samuel Preston announced yesterday. John DiIulio, a full professor at Princeton University, and Jerome Maddox, an assistant professor at Stanford University, will join the department in the fall and will begin teaching immediately. Preston hailed DiIulio -- a 1980 College graduate who has taught at Princeton since 1986 -- as "one of the leading political scientists in the country" and a "fabulous addition to the faculty." "Every place in the country has basically tried to hire him," Preston said. "I couldn't be more excited about what he brings to Penn." And Political Science Professor Jack Nagel, who taught DiIulio at Penn, said he was "thrilled that [DiIulio] is joining the faculty." "He was a remarkable student and has had an incredible career in political science since then," Nagel added. DiIulio currently teaches a popular course in American Politics at Princeton and will teach a similar course here at Penn, Preston added. DiIulio -- who will serve as the Fox Leadership Professor of Politics, Religion and Civil Society -- also specializes in public affairs and urban development. He has previously served as an advisor to Texas Gov. George W. Bush and Vice President Al Gore. The department first noticed the new recruit when he returned to campus in November as a keynote speaker for the three-day Steinberg Symposium, which brought several urban mayors to campus. According to Preston, DiIulio's numerous letters of recommendation were particularly impressive and repeatedly stressed his "incredible energy and his capacity as a scholar, researcher, thinker." "He qualifies as a public intellectual," Preston explained. "He is somebody who publishes in scholarly outlets but also publishes in more accessible outlets." Preston said DiIulio's application must still be reviewed by the Provost Staff Conference -- a committee of deans led by Provost Robert Barchi that must approve all hiring decisions -- but said he considered the deal essentially done. Maddox, Penn's other recruit, also specializes in American Politics and will teach a course on Congress and the American legislative process in the fall. Preston said Maddox -- who received his doctorate in Political Science from Harvard University in 1997 -- will be a "terrific political scientist," noting that Stanford has one of the premier departments in the country. Maddox also said he was "ecstatic" about his new appointment and considered it a "great opportunity." "I'm very excited to enter the Penn community," Maddox added. "I couldn't be happier with the way things turned out." With two new appointments and the potential for several others in the near future, the department -- which has been weakened by the recent departure of several highly regarded professors -- hopes to rebuild itself. But Nagel noted that while both appointments are "terrific additions," there is still more work to be done. "We need to make a lot of new appointments," Nagel said. "We're at least 50 percent smaller than we need to be." Preston recently released a new SAS strategic plan, which highlighted the Political Science Department as one deserving of increased faculty appointments. The plan calls for more funding for the department over the next several years.
(04/15/99 9:00am)
Psychology Professor Robert Rescorla has been named this year's recipient of the Ira Abrams Award for Distinguished Teaching, the top teaching award given out by the School of Arts and Sciences. Rescorla, who served as dean of the College of Arts and Sciences from January 1994 to December 1997, is the third Psychology professor to win the award in its 15-year history, following Henry Gleitman in 1988 and Paul Rozin in 1995. Rescorla -- who is also a member of the National Academy of Sciences -- said that while he was "obviously thrilled" about receiving the award, he had not been expecting to win at all. "I was surprised. When I was dean, I only thought about giving [awards] to other people," Rescorla joked. "This one is for my teaching and it's at least as important as any for my research." Rescorla also explained that the award is particularly meaningful for the Psychology Department, serving as proof that it is strong and successful. "Our department is a department that really values good teaching," Rescorla noted. Psychology Department Chairperson Robert Seyfarth said the department nominated Rescorla last year for the award, adding that he is thrilled that his friend and colleague captured one of SAS' most prestigious academic awards. "We're delighted," Seyfarth said. "In many respects, it is long overdue." Seyfarth praised Rescorla as an "outstanding teacher" and a "pioneer" in encouraging undergraduate research. He noted that the award recognizes both the "extraordinary service" that the former College dean has paid to both the department and SAS in general. "This [award] is a clear indication that he has the ability to teach difficult material with great skill," Seyfarth added. In Rescorla's years at Penn, his work has focused on understanding the nature of simple associative learning, particularly Pavlovian conditioning. During his term as dean, Rescorla improved the advising system, increased the number of undergraduate research opportunities, instituted several interschool minors and achieved new levels of cooperation among undergraduate schools. SAS Dean Samuel Preston lauded Rescorla as a "magnificent teacher" and a "very distinguished scientist." "He has made it a top priority of his to ensure that undergraduates have attractive research experiences," Preston said. Rescorla was selected by a committee of two professors, one graduate student and one undergraduate student. Both faculty members -- Art History Professor Susan Sidlauskas and Rozin -- were previous winners. The Ira Abrams Award was first handed out in 1983. English Professor Vicki Mahaffey and Mathematics Professor Frank Warner -- both of whom are still members of the faculty -- were its first recipients. Last year, English Professor David DeLaura and Physics Professor Eugene Mele were co-winners of the award. The English Department has received seven Abrams awards, the most of any department. Elaine Scarry, Robert Lucid, Peter Conn, Alan Filreis and Peter Stallybrass have all been past winners from that department.
(04/13/99 9:00am)
An experimental overhaul will be tested in the fall of 2000. Current students will be unaffected. The Committee on Undergraduate Education will release today a proposal to all 450 standing faculty members in the School of Arts and Sciences recommending numerous revisions to the College of Arts and Sciences' existing curriculum and, in particular, to the structure of the current General Requirement. The actual proposal was created over the past few months by CUE -- a group comprised of 14 faculty members and four students -- and will be formally presented and voted on by the entire faculty at next Tuesday's faculty meeting. The proposal's first and most dramatic recommendation is for 200 students -- beginning in the fall of 2000 -- to be exempted from fulfilling the College's General Requirement. Randomly selected members of the Class of 2004 who express interest in participating will instead fulfill a "pilot curriculum" requiring them to take one course in each of four specified categories, one per semester during their freshman and sophomore years. The current General Requirement requires students to take a total of 10 courses in seven different sectors but does not force students in the College to take any one particular course. Under the new system, however, students would take a total of four broad-based, interdisciplinary and team-taught courses. These courses, for which syllabi have not yet been developed, will introduce students to the "complexities of modern life" and will draw on the "approaches and accomplishments of multiple disciplines," according to the proposal. The proposal provides four suggested course categories but the document notes that the "category descriptions and titles will undoubtedly evolve and improve" with more faculty input. One such category is tentatively titled "Freedom, Equality and Community" and involves disciplines ranging from philosophy to economics, political science and cultural anthropology, according to the proposal. It will explore conflicts over religious tolerance and the emergence of democratic ideals, as well as struggles over slavery and a number of ideologies. Another category, labeled "Science, Culture and Society" will combine science and mathematics and will "examine the emergence of the modern conceptions of physical science, biological science and social science," including evolutionary and genetic theories. A third offering, "Earth, Space and Life," will explore the "major developments of contemporary science," including plate tectonics and cosmology. Finally, students participating in the pilot curriculum would be required to take a course in the category of "Imagination, Representation and Reality," which would combine "literature, fine art, music and other forms of human expression." College Dean Richard Beeman emphasized that the proposed curriculum changes reflect administrators' "spirit of optimism" and commitment to "educational renewal" -- and are not intended as a sign of dissatisfaction with the current system. "We don't feel like there's anything here that's broken," Beeman stressed. The proposal says that, at least initially, there will be one course offered in each of the four categories, but numerous recitation sections -- which might have different "reading materials, discussion topics and assignments" -- will provide for variation within each course's curriculum. In addition, more courses in each category might be offered if the pilot curriculum's popularity increases. A decision whether to extend the pilot program to all College students will be made by SAS faculty no later than the spring semester of 2004, the proposal states. "We like the idea of, as much as possible, some sort of shared experience during the early years," said CUE Chairperson and Mathematics Professor Frank Warner. Still, Beeman stressed that the four courses are "not a core." "They are not intended to define what some group of faculty thought of as the most important things," he said. Instead, Beeman said, the proposed curriculum is designed "as a way of opening up areas of future inquiry for students" and intended to introduce students to numerous important disciplines that they might not otherwise encounter. The actual order in which the four courses are to be taken has not yet been determined, but the proposal does suggest that science majors and pre-medical students take courses in the first, second and fourth categories in their first three semesters. The proposal also specifies a plan to develop an effective advising system for the pilot program, designed to help students refine their educational goals over the years. Assistant College Dean for Academic Affairs Kent Peterman also emphasized that there "could be additional experimentation" once students actually enroll in the pilot curriculum. Other key components of the new plan include a "Communication Skills" requirement -- a course that students would take in their freshman year and would require "both frequent writing and a variety of oral presentations." The logistics of the requirement will likely be determined by the College's Writing and Oral Communication Committee. And according to the proposal, a special task force is currently studying the Foreign Language requirement and might make some changes on its own, though the document does not mention any specific plan to revise the requirement. A third important attribute is an increased emphasis on research and the proposal suggests that departments help students "advance the boundaries of human knowledge and creation for themselves." Departments will be encouraged to offer each student an opportunity to conduct individual research.
(04/09/99 9:00am)
Longtime Penn English Professor Houston Baker, the former head of the African-American Studies Program, announced last week that he would accept a position as a senior professor of English at Duke University. The move leaves the English Department without one of its most influential and well-respected faculty members. Baker, 56, was a visiting professor at Duke this year and taught a course on African-American autobiography. But when he left for North Carolina last August, neither he nor Penn knew that the move would be for good. "After we had surveyed the area, [Duke] seemed like a pretty good place," Baker said, adding that no single factor sealed his decision to remain in Raleigh. "One of the important things in the process is that Duke is a great university," Baker explained. According to a recent issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education, Baker's main incentive for leaving was that Duke offered his wife Charlotte a sizeable package in the Women's Studies Department. Charlotte Baker previously taught adjunctly at Penn and worked as an administrator in the College of General Studies. The Chronicle also reported that Duke is actively recruiting Penn English Professor Maureen Quilligan, though Quilligan is still currently employed by Penn. Baker arrived at Penn in 1974 as a member of the English Department. That year, he was also named director of the African-American Studies Program -- a post he held for three years. Baker, who is also a published poet, has written several books during his tenure at Penn and also served as president of the Modern Language Association of America in 1992, the first African American in more than 100 years to do so. Additionally, he was the director of the University's Center for Study of Black Literature and Culture at the time of his departure. Indeed, during his 25-year tenure, Baker earned a reputation as one of the pre-eminent scholars in his field. "With Houston Baker's departure, we're losing an incredibly visible scholar in Afro-American literature, somebody who really shaped the field as it exists now across the country," English Department Chairperson Wendy Steiner said. While Baker is excited about his dramatic transition, he claimed he is still nostalgic about his time at Penn. "We have profited and benefited enormously from the quarter-century we've spent at the University of Pennsylvania," Baker said, adding that he certainly does not plan "to be a stranger." And, according to some of his former colleagues, the fond feelings are more than mutual. Steiner referred to Baker as a "really good friend" and called his departure "a pity," while Beavers said Baker "had the ability to be both a mentor and friend at the same time." The English Department is already bracing itself for Baker's loss, which some say might hurt the ranking of the department and the African-American Studies Program.
(04/08/99 9:00am)
For the first time ever, Penn students will soon get credit for University classes while participating from desks located across the country. This summer, the College of General Studies will administer a distance-learning program called PennAdvance, enabling students in 15 select cities to take full-credit Penn courses through a combination of live satellite broadcasts, videoconferencing technology and the Internet. Professors will broadcast their courses from a studio at 46th and Market streets, and the four courses will be shown on huge screens at Caliber Learning Centers in selected cities. Penn already contracts with the Caliber Learning Network, a 2 1/2-year-old Baltimore-based company founded by Sylvan Learning Systems, Inc. and MCI Worldcom to provide distance-learning courses to high school students and Wharton School executive-education classes. The four courses offered are Physics 1: Mechanics for the Health Sciences, Psychology 1: Introduction to Psychology, Religious Studies 2: Religions of the West and Sociology 3: Principles of Sociology: Deviance and Social Control. Though there has been some successful "initial experimentation" with high school students in selected markets, this summer marks the first occasion that the distance-learning program will be available to Penn students, according to CGS Director Richard Hendrix. "We never intended it to be just high-school students," Hendrix said The courses will meet bi-weekly at specified times and the enrolled students will attend the high-tech centers in their respective cities. Each student will follow the professor's lecture on the large screen and will receive any visual aids on a small computer screen in front of them. The professor, meanwhile, can simultaneously monitor the progress of each of the 15 classes and can choose to specifically focus on several cities at one time. "The professor could ask the technician to put Boston up on the [large] screen for everyone to see," said Luise Moskowitz, a CGS spokesperson, offering a hypothetical situation. Hendrix said the four classes would have the same amount of coursework as any class offered during the year at Penn, with work including quizzes, midterms and finals. The number of students for each of the four classes has not yet been determined, but Hendrix said he's expecting a total number of 60 students in each course with an average of four students in each city. And while the number of courses offered might progressively expand, Hendrix does not expect the total to ever compare to the 250 courses currently offered by CGS. Moskowitz noted that an added benefit of these summer courses is that students can control the pace at which they learn through their own personal computer because they can review a slide or a handout that the professor had previously distributed. He also claimed that despite initial concern that student-teacher relations would be weak due to the absence of face-to-face contact, several professors who participated in the high school pilot program said they actually befriended some of their students. "The faculty came back saying that they knew their on-line students better than their Penn students," Moskowitz said. And Richard Beeman, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, said the on-line program indicates the growing interest in supplementing education with technology. "The great challenge facing any elite residential university is to offer in a first-rate way all of those educational opportunities that a virtual education can offer," Beeman said. The 15 target cities for the PennAdvance program are Atlanta; Austin, Texas; Boston; Dallas; Denver; Houston; Minneapolis; Nashville, Tenn.; Pittsburgh; Portland, Ore.; San Diego; San Francisco; San Jose, Calif.; and Washington, D.C.
(04/06/99 9:00am)
The $19 million plan for the School of Arts and Sciences includes new faculty hires and more research dollars. University officials are set to release today their $19 million strategic plan for the School of Arts and Sciences, which outlines numerous initiatives designed to improve Penn's largest academic school over the next several years. Among the plan's specific initiatives are increased investment in six "core" academic departments -- English, History, Psychology, Political Science, Biology and Economics -- as well as a more concerted effort to recruit and retain top-rate professors as the General Requirement changes. The strategic initiative also includes plans to renovate Bennett Hall and says that SAS will secure new facilities for the Psychology and Music departments. Additionally, the school will find permanent locations for the Humanities Center, the College of General Studies and the Folklore Department. No time frame has been set for the projects. "The new administration in Arts and Sciences decided that it needed to take a step back and take a look at the landscape of the school and try to identify the priorities for advancing the positions of the school," SAS Dean Samuel Preston said. Both Preston and Richard Beeman, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, took office last January. In addition, SAS plans to "renew and enrich [its] faculty" by creating a more diverse faculty and enticing more renowned scholars to enter at the assistant level. At the same time, officials said they will work to reduce the rate of tenured faculty members over the coming years. SAS will now offer a $5,000 start-up research fund to each newly appointed assistant professor. And assistant professors who are promoted to the associate level will obtain access to another $5,000 research fund. A third $5,000 fund will be available to those who secure tenure as a full professor. Preston acknowledged that many Penn professors in diverse fields currently feel "somewhat undersupplied in research opportunity," adding that this new salary structure could put the University on par with other peer institutions. And Beeman agreed that this new incentive could produce an even more solid faculty -- an essential component of any elite university. "If you look at what makes any school great, it really is great faculty," he said. "You can't attract terrific students without a terrific faculty." SAS also plans to authorize the hiring of new faculty appointments in the History Department, increase the size of the faculty in the Biology, Psychology and Economics departments and guarantee "as many as five distinguished senior appointments" -- all specializing in American Politics -- in the Political Science Department, which has been struggling for two years to land top recruits. But Preston emphasized that the departments slated for growth will not benefit at the "expense of other departments." "We intend to foster modest growth in the departments that we've singled out," Preston said. "But it is not the case that the other departments are slated to decline." The plan, which is released approximately every five years by the school's administration, was drafted this past academic year. Preston said the various initiatives will likely be funded by the University and "generous external donors." The estimated $19 million cost excludes assorted facility renovations and construction that are outlined in the plan. According to Preston, the six departments selected to receive additional resources and funding are all "core academic departments" -- part of larger interdisclipinary programs -- that have above-average student-teacher ratios and "deliver an extremely important body of human knowledge." Wendy Steiner, chairperson of the English Department -- a department praised in the strategic plan as the "centerpiece of literary scholarship in the School" -- described the new funding as a "fabulous opportunity." "We're at the point right now where we really need this," Steiner said. The plan explicitly states that SAS will "increase the size of the English faculty" and "improve the competitiveness of graduate fellowship packages." Also included in the document are plans to establish an Urban Health minor, a range of fundamental science courses intended for non-majors and a Film Studies program, coordinated by the Annenberg School for Communication and the Graduate School of Fine Arts. While SAS administrators are extremely pleased with the strategic plan, they also admit that there are more changes to be made than those listed in the document. "You can't possibly take something as complicated and broad-based as the School of Arts and Sciences and include everything you want to do," said David Balamuth, associate dean in SAS. "There will certainly be things of significance done that are not articulated in the plan," he added.
(04/05/99 9:00am)
The 14 students on the task force will seek student opinion tonight at 8 p.m. in Logan Hall. The 14 student members of the provost-appointed alcohol task force are holding an open forum tonight in Logan Hall's Room 17 at 8 p.m. The meeting -- which is open to all University students -- is intended to provoke further discussion about the administration's recent temporary ban on alcohol at all registered undergraduate events. Outgoing Undergraduate Assembly Chairperson Bill Conway, a Wharton junior and member of the panel, said he hopes to "get a better idea of the range of student opinion and some possible ideas for a plan to control abusive drinking" from tonight's forum. And panel member Jeffrey Snyder, a Wharton senior and the InterFraternity Council's former vice president for rush, said the task force is "looking for more dialogue." "If there are students out there who have ideas that we haven't heard yet, we want to hear them," he said. Tonight's event marks the second occasion in as many weeks that all University students have been given an opportunity to speak out -- either in support of or against -- the new alcohol policy. Last week, between 800 and 1,000 undergraduates attended a rally on College Green to protest the new alcohol policy. During the event, students attacked members of the administration for taking away alcohol without first consulting the student body. But panel members stressed that the forum will be more organized than last week's rally and hopefully more productive. Tangible Change Committee Chairperson Samara Barend, a College senior who is also a member of the task force, is encouraging students to come to tonight's event with "well-thought out, conceived ideas," explaining that the administration will likely be more receptive to students' substantive suggestions rather than their purely emotional responses. Former Graduate and Professional Student Assembly Chairperson Sanjay Udani, a sixth-year doctoral student in the School of Engineering and Applied Science and a panel member, also hopes that students will spend more time tonight contemplating potential solutions and alternatives than on attacking the administration. "There will be people there who'll be there just to yell and scream and there'll be people there who actually have good suggestions," said Udani, a graduate associate in Hill College House. Conway said he expects "a lot of bickering" among the forum's participants, but claimed that such a reaction is only natural. "Students are irritated about this and they should be. I think that'll come out." The open forum was initially proposed by the student task force members at last Tuesday's meeting, according to Snyder. "We had all agreed that it was important to have as much student input as possible," Snyder said. Although the event's planners are expecting a good turnout, they were not sure exactly how many students would attend the forum. "We'd like to fill the room," Snyder said. "We'd like to hear from as many students as possible." Barend worried that the forum's attendance might be lower than expected because of comedienne Ellen DeGeneres' appearance tonight in the Zellerbach Auditorium -- also scheduled for 8 p.m. After tonight's forum, the panel members plan to take some of the students' proposals back to the entire task force -- comprised of 19 students, faculty members and administrators, including Provost Robert Barchi. "The administration is not going to lift the ban until something is put in its place" Conway said, expressing optimism that substantial ideas might come from this meeting.
(04/02/99 10:00am)
Don't expect Penn students to cut beer and liquor from their diets just yet. Or at least that's what drug and alcohol experts at several Ivy League universities and local agencies are predicting in the aftermath of last week's decision to ban alcohol from registered undergraduate parties and other on-campus social functions. Holly Sateia, dean of student life at Dartmouth College, said that although she supports Penn's right to enforce strict alcohol policies, she is not sure that preventing student drinking is feasible. "I don't think just one course of action will work," Sateia said. And Marianne Waterbury, the associate dean of Student Life at Princeton University, acknowledged that preventing underage student drinking is often beyond an institution's control. "The law of New Jersey may have reduced the numbers, but so far it hasn't eliminated the problem," Waterbury said. "We're always dealing with alcohol." She also claimed that preventing underage drinking is as challenging as preventing speeding on the highway. "Does the law state that you can't exceed 55 miles-per-hour on the New Jersey Turnpike? What's the average speed? 70?" Tom Flaherty, a local expert who works in the drug and alcohol field, said he believes that alcohol abuse "will continue" at Penn and simply "go underground." But he did acknowledge that the policy should "cut down on alcohol-related incidents" by making alcohol less accessible. "I think it's probably a good idea for Penn and other schools to try different methods of curbing alcohol abuse," Flaherty added. National binge drinking trends are made all the more disturbing by Penn students who express anger toward the administration for banning alcohol, according to Sean Conaboy, the vice president of Development at the Caron Foundation -- a local alcohol treatment center. "The outcry and uproar is reflective of just how high a value college students place on their right to drink and party," Conaboy said. "It's a pretty sad state of affairs to see students protesting that they can't drink their faces off. It's pathetic," he added. Conaboy also noted that certain societal problems -- like acquaintance rape, fights and crime -- are much more likely to occur when the involved parties are intoxicated. If the administration's decision to temporarily ban alcohol use on campus will "reduce the behaviors and problems affiliated with binge drinking," then the policy should be deemed a success, Conaboy said. Still, most experts emphasized that education -- not necessarily abstinence -- is the best way to reduce binge drinking on college campuses. "In order for us to really lessen binge drinking, we have to do a multi-dimensional approach, including restriction, education and partnership with parents," Sateia said. Although these experts may deal exclusively with people suffering from addictions -- and not just young adults in search of a good time -- some still contend that many college students are abusing alcohol too often and could easily put themselves and others at risk. "You don't have to be an alcoholic to fall off a building. It just takes a few drinks too many," according to Doris Cohen, the executive director of the local branch of the National Council on Alcohol and other Drug Addictions. "I think when something like that happens, the college has to stop and say we're not doing business like than anymore," Sateia said.
(03/30/99 10:00am)
UA Chairperson Bill Conway stressed that the rally would focus on the lack of consultation, not alcohol policy. Undergraduate Assembly Chairperson Bill Conway accused University administrators of ignoring students' concerns and of "turning a deaf ear" to their "collective voices" during a press conference yesterday held to announce today's student rally. Around 30 Penn students and several local media outlets attended yesterday's press conference in front of the Fisher Fine Arts Library, at which Conway, a Wharton junior, delivered a brief speech criticizing the administration for taking action last week without first considering student input. On Thursday, the University surprised students by announcing that alcohol would be banned at registered undergraduate campus events. The plan also provides for stricter enforcement of existing alcohol policies. But during his speech, Conway did not specifically mention alcohol or the dry issue even once, emphasizing instead that today's rally scheduled for 3 p.m. on College Green is about addressing the need for student involvement in University decision-making. Many students -- both Greek and non-Greek -- have claimed that the new University policy will endanger students by forcing drinking off campus and into unmonitored venues. In addition, students have expressed anger not only because alcohol has been taken away from campus parties but because they were not consulted immediately prior to the University's announcement. But University President Judith Rodin maintained yesterday that the latest announcement comes following two years of student consultation and that the administration needed to take a proactive stance on the issue. Still, student leaders hope the rally will show the administration that undergraduates will no longer tolerate being excluded from important decision-making processes, Conway told the crowd during the press conference yesterday. "The student body will be having a rally tomorrow? to demonstrate to the University how seriously we oppose our being ignored," Conway said. "Since the administration has failed to allow us, as representative student leaders, to contribute to the policy-making process, perhaps they will listen to the students themselves," he added. Conway also accused both Rodin and University Provost Robert Barchi of "reversing previously made promises" to confer with students before making any decision. According to Conway, Rodin announced at Wednesday's University Council meeting that she would not take any action until first consulting with students. But, he added, these consultations have "yet to occur." He also accused the administration of failing to acknowledge repeated requests to move the date of today's meeting of the alcohol task force. The students wanted to meet yesterday rather than today -- a day when, according to Conway, many students will be traveling home for Passover and Easter. "It seems a little peculiar that although the decision was made last Thursday, the administration has chosen not to meet with student leaders until shortly before they go home before religious holidays, further delaying the issue," he noted after the press conference. And Conway claimed that these actions breed a "hostile social and academic setting" by teaching students that "regardless of what is taught in the classroom, what goes on behind closed doors is an entirely different story." "The University failed to practice what it preaches," Conway added. InterFraternity Council Executive Board members have been careful to publicly distance themselves from the rally, saying instead that they will keep quiet about this issue until they speak today with the provost. "IFC and [the Panhellenic Council] have nothing to do with that rally," said IFC Executive Vice President Andrew Exum, a College junior and Daily Pennsylvanian columnist. Other student leaders joining Conway at the press conference included College sophomore and UA Vice Chairperson Michael Bassik and Senior Class President Sarah Gleit. Also in attendance were Sphinx Senior Honor Society Chairperson Joshua Zeichner, Friars Senior Honor Society Abbott Scott Glosserman and College senior and student representative Liz Bernard, Panhel's former executive vice president.
(03/29/99 10:00am)
Many students said the University's alcohol plan will not work and decried a lack of consultation in the process. Last week, the administration sent a message to undergraduates: Alcohol abuse would no longer be tolerated. And now, after the first weekend under a policy which bars alcohol from all registered campus parties indefinitely, many outraged students have a message they'd like to send right back: Stay out of our social life and treat us like adults. The policy seems likely to affect the social lives of almost all undergraduates, and with Skimmer and Spring Fling on the horizon, students across campus are expressing their discontent with the actions of University President Judith Rodin and Provost Robert Barchi. "I absolutely think it's the most ridiculous thing on earth," College senior Scott Melker said of the new policies, which include a ban on alcohol service at registered undergraduate events and stricter enforcement of existing alcohol policies. "I feel worse for someone who's a freshman now," added Melker, a Tau Epsilon Phi brother. "I'm blessed to be getting out of this place." And while a group of student leaders is organizing a rally tomorrow at 3 p.m. to protest the changes in the campus alcohol policy, its focus is not on the decision administrators reached, but on how they got there. Although the rally's actual format has not yet been finalized, UA Vice Chairperson Michael Bassik emphasized that the rally is "not about alcohol. It's not about going dry. It's not about Michael Tobin." Instead, Bassik, a College sophomore and Zeta Beta Tau brother, said the rally is mainly to protest the administration's failure to consult the student body prior to making a decision of this magnitude. Tangible Change Committee Chairperson and College senior Samara Barend expressed a similar sentiment, writing in a statement that non-alcoholic activities, many of which the committee helped create, "were never intended as a replacement for the existing culture of campus life," and that "the solution lies in the active engagement of those most affected by these decisions -- students." Barend added, "We challenge the administration to begin an immediate dialogue with undergraduates to address these serious issues." The 26-year-old Tobin's alcohol-related death last weekend after a party at Phi Gamma Delta has made many students think that the University must act -- even if the partial alcohol ban was not the correct action. College senior Stephen Parks said he feels that "something needed to be done" but thinks that the new crack-down is the "wrong answer" and will have some "adverse effects" on the campus' social life. The University's new stance has been criticized by many as punishing everyone for the actions of just a few people. "There are so many organizations on this campus that have never, ever had a problem with the University in terms of alcohol," College senior and Sigma Chi brother Scott Glosserman said. Last night, Barchi insisted that the University's actions are "not punitive." "We are not interested in punishing anyone here," he said. "We are interested in provoking a campus-wide discussion about how to deal with the culture of alcohol abuse that's taken hold at Penn and campuses across the country." Still, Melker blamed the University for "making a political platform out of a really unfortunate accident." Other student leaders emphasized that judging from the many past events conducted safely, there isn't a drastic need to deal with the "culture" Barchi described. According to Senior Class President Sarah Gleit, a Phi Sigma Sigma sister, there were no alcohol-related incidents in 12 senior screamers in February, nor were there any citations for underage drinking given to students at Skimmer last year. "Students go out of the way to be responsible," Gleit said, adding that the "University made a foolish decision." Another common criticism has been that the ban will force drinking off-campus into venues that are much less monitored than fraternity parties. "[The policy] is encouraging freshmen to sit in their rooms with a bottle of vodka? and get excessively drunk and sick," Gleit said. According to Barchi, the University's first priority is always "the health and safety of our students," but he said that administrators remain confident that the "overwhelming majority of students behave in a responsible manner in regard to the use of alcohol."
(03/24/99 10:00am)
The department is close to completing deals with two American Politics scholars. At least two new professors are close to joining the University's troubled Political Science Department, College of Arts and Sciences Dean Richard Beeman said yesterday. If hired, the two professors would be the first signed recruits in more than a year for the nearly 20-member department, which lost two junior faculty members last year and saw a prized recruit reject Penn's offer last summer. According to Beeman, the two recruits have already been nominated by the department itself and are currently meeting with the School of Arts and Sciences Faculty Personnel Committee. If approved by the Personnel Committee -- possibly within the next month -- the scholars would then be reviewed by the Provost Staff Conference, a group of administrators headed by Provost Robert Barchi. "Before we can give them a final offer, they have to be approved by the appropriate faculty and provostial committees," Beeman said. Though Beeman and School of Arts and Sciences Dean Samuel Preston declined to give the prospective professors' names and affiliations, they did confirm that both candidates specialize in American Politics and could begin teaching as early as next semester. Preston lauded both professors as "two very talented recruits" and praised their recruitment as "major successes" for the department. And Political Science Department Chairperson Ian Lustick said "the whole department is thrilled with these developments." "We're proud of our recruitment efforts," Lustick added, noting that the agreements have not been finalized. Beeman specifically singled out one of the professors as a particularly outstanding addition. "One of the faculty that we're recruiting is a very distinguished senior political scientist who is, simultaneously, one of the most respected members of the profession," Beeman said. "The department will be adding a teacher of uncommon brilliance," he added. And, according to Beeman, the professor is not only important in the field of political science, but is also an "important person" in general. It is not yet clear what courses the professors will teach, though several courses -- including Political Science 130, the main introductory American Politics lecture -- currently lack professors, according to the Fall 1999 course timetable. The potential hirings represent major progress in the department's two-year recruitment search. A University-wide task force has spent the year interviewing candidates from several universities, but has not been able to successfully land any of them. In addition to these two possible hirings, Preston noted a "reasonable possibility that [the department] will have two more" by the end of the school year. Another actively sought-after recruit, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Professor Jim Snyder, told The Daily Pennsylvanian last month that his coming to Penn would be contingent upon the University hiring other prominent faculty members at the same time. The department has recently witnessed the exodus of several well-respected members. Two assistant professors in the department left last spring. Daniel Deudney was forced to leave after not receiving tenure after his seventh year at Penn. Shortly thereafter, Marissa Golden announced her intention to leave, citing concerns for her own job security. Deudney accepted an offer to teach at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, while Golden returned to teach at her alma mater, Bryn Mawr College. Several other senior faculty members also announced their intended retirements last year.
(03/23/99 10:00am)
Beset by low student interest, the department may cease to offer undergraduate degrees. Penn's Folklore and Folklife Department may no longer offer a major as of July 1 and will likely be transformed into a center with professors from various departments, according to School of Arts and Sciences Dean Samuel Preston. The Folklore faculty will vote this summer between maintaining their departmental structure and developing a center, Preston said. The department, which currently has six standing faculty members, has seen its numbers dwindle substantially in recent years. Over the past six years, about one-third of Folklore professors have taken leave or left the University permanently for various reasons. And next year, Preston said, the department will lose two more of its standing faculty members. The eight students who are currently majoring in Folklore would be unaffected by the change and could still complete the major as planned, department members said. And the graduate division of the department is likely to remain unfazed by the changes, with graduate students still being able to receive a degree in Folklore. Although Preston emphasized that plans are still preliminary, he said that the center -- currently untitled -- could operate out of Logan Hall as soon as next fall. The department's professors would be given the option of joining other undergraduate departments, though certain Folklore classes will still be offered. "They're a very valuable group of faculty," Preston said. "They'll be moving into various departments where, in fact, their undergraduate teaching will be somewhat larger than it's been." Preston claimed that the University has been involved in negotiations with the department for over two years. Although he said there was no "single factor responsible for the change," he did acknowledge that undergraduates' have not regularly shown interest in the major. "This department had difficulty finding a large audience among undergraduates," said Preston, adding, however, that it is still a "marvelous graduate group." Folklore Department Chairperson Roger Abrahams maintained that undergraduate students are generally interested in taking Folklore courses. "It isn't an unpopular major," Abrahams said. "Most people just don't know about it." Folklore 101, "Introduction to Folklore," has regularly been a popular course at the University, Preston added. And Abrahams dubbed Penn's graduate program in Folklore "the best in the world," attracting "fantastic students." He said that faculty members were not entirely disappointed that the undergraduate department might soon disband, claiming that he had "no complaints" with the negotiations and was pleased with the "tremendous support" that the current administration has given the department as a whole.
(03/19/99 10:00am)
Jan Zucker, 49, died of a heart attack Tuesday. He owned Lee's for 14 years. Known as a friend and father-figure to countless Penn students and alumni, Jan Zucker, the long-time owner of Lee's Hoagie House, died Tuesday at his home in Huntington Valley after suffering a heart attack. He was 49. Zucker had owned the campus staple -- located at 4034 Walnut Street -- since its opening in 1985. During his 14-year stint at the popular eatery, Zucker befriended many of his customers, several of whom maintained contact with him long after they graduated. "He loved the students. It kept him feeling young. He just loved being here," said his wife Lois, who worked "side by side" with her husband and will now serve as its sole owner. On the second floor of Lee's Hoagie House, an array of postcards from alumni and several fraternity and sorority composite photographs bear testament to the tight bond that Zucker shared with his past and present customers. "People who graduated 10 years ago would come back in and show Jan who they had married," Lois said. Several regular student customers said they will remember Zucker for his amiable personality. "I loved Jan," College sophomore Lexie Gultanoff said. "I'm in there every single day. He knew my name, he'd always give me stuff." And College junior Carin Zelkowitz added, "I'd always go in there and expect to see him, sitting there and smiling. That's what I equate with Lee's Hoagies." But Zucker will be missed by more than just students. "He was my best friend for many years. He was like a father to me. He was like a father to everyone basically," said Juan Rodriguez, the store's 40-year-old manager. And Beth Ogubunka, a Lee's employee for nine years, says she "cried all night" after hearing the news. "It was a hurtful thing," Ogubunka said. "Not only do you feel like you lost a boss, you feel like you lost a friend and a pal." According to his wife, Zucker had spent a "great day" at work Tuesday and then had a "wonderful dinner" with his 25-year-old son, Jason. Several minutes after returning home that night, Zucker suffered a massive coronary while turning on his computer. Zucker's funeral was held yesterday morning at Joseph Levine and Son's Funeral Home on Broad Street before a crowd of around 200 mourners. He was buried yesterday afternoon at the King David Cemetery. Although Zucker will no longer run the deli, his wife said Lee's Hoagie House will always be her husband's "legacy." "After his family, this business was his heart and soul. It was his baby," she said.
(03/17/99 10:00am)
Solve the puzzle, spin the wheel, buy a vowel or choose a consonant. These choices may not seem as significant as selecting classes and majors, but some Penn students will soon have the opportunity to face these very same predicaments on national television. Wheel of Fortune, the popular syndicated prime-time game show, will hold a contestant search at Penn tomorrow. Conducted by representatives from WPVI-TV -- the local ABC affiliate that broadcasts the game show -- the auditions will begin at noon inside the University Museum at 33rd and Spruce streets. Ten episodes will be filmed in Philadelphia on April 17 and 18, according to University spokesperson Jeanne Leong. Five of the shows will involve selected citizens of the Delaware Valley area and the other five will feature students from area colleges. The episodes will air during the first two weeks of May, although it has not yet been decided exactly when "College Week" will be broadcast. According to Rebecca Campbell, WPVI's director of programming, all perspective contestants should arrive at the museum between 10 a.m. and noon Thursday. Tickets will be distributed at 10 a.m. and the line will officially form two hours later. Campbell stressed that all interested students should be in line -- with tickets in hand -- by noon in order to audition. At that point, 200 students will be randomly selected to audition. The selected students will then have a "pre-audition," Campbell said, where they will have to answer some brief questions, show some basic knowledge of Wheel of Fortune and prove that they would "make a good contestant." Campbell explained that the show is looking for students who are "very enthusiastic," have a "great personality" and who "know the game." Leong agreed, adding that the audition will not be "like Jeopardy! where they would test your knowledge on one topic or another." And Ann Davis, another University spokesperson, also speculated that the auditions would require more enthusiasm and excitement than sheer intelligence. "I think you have to be able to clap really loud, jump up and down and shout 'big money, big money!'" she said. Neither the University nor the television station could predict how many people would attend Thursday's audition. But Campbell said that around 550 students attended a similar audition at the University of Delaware yesterday and nearly 13,000 people auditioned at the nearby King of Prussia Mall. Similar contestant searches are being held at Temple, Villanova, Rowan and Lincoln universities, as well as at Delaware and Penn. Those students who do not make the cut at Thursday's audition can attend another contestant search at Plymouth Meeting Mall on March 27. Two hundred students will be selected from each of the seven auditioning sites, which include the universities and the Plymouth mall. Out of those 1,400, however, only 120 will advance to the third round of auditions -- interviews with the staff at Wheel of Fortune. Only 15 will then be selected to appear on the show, which will be taped at the Apollo at Temple University. WPVI-TV is broadcast locally on channel 6.
(03/03/99 10:00am)
A Penn student joined students at other Ivies in sending the joint letter to university presidents. Although they have yet to meet face-to-face with the administration, a group of Penn students have joined the Ivy League anti-sweatshop campaign and are now seeking an immediate response from University President Judith Rodin. Students at seven of the eight Ivy League schools -- Dartmouth College being the exception -- sent a letter Friday to their universities' respective administrations requesting a "timely, forthright response" to four demands by March 8. The issue has gained prominence during the last month as students at several other schools have staged protests, rallies and sit-ins in response to their schools' use or possible use of sweatshops to produce school-insignia apparel. University officials have said that they are committed to working with the other Ivies and the Association for Collegiate Licensing Administration to develop a policy on labor practices which would then be submitted to Rodin for approval. College junior Miriam Joffe-Block, a member of the Progressive Activist Network, signed the letter on behalf of Penn's student body. "I'm optimistic that this will get the administration to see that this is an important issue to us," Joffe-Block said, adding that she thinks the letter will help to "pull [Penn] into the loop" of activism. The first stipulation outlined in the letter calls for increased student involvement on the sweatshop issue, urging the schools to permit at least one student representative from each university to attend the next meeting of the Ivy League taskforce on sweatshops, as well as future meetings. Penn officials did not attend the last meeting, which occurred two weeks ago in New York City. Yale sophomore Jessica Champagne, who signed the letter on the New Haven, Conn., school's behalf, said the students would "like to be seen as full participants." "[Students] are the ones who brought this to the table, so we'd like to be part of the discussions," said Champagne, who is also the co-coordinator of Yale's chapter of Students Against Sweatshops. Second is a request for "genuinely independent monitors" who can fairly inspect the manufacturing sites without any "conflict of interest." In the letter, the students also demand a "living wage" for factory employees. According to the letter, many workers "struggle every day to barely subsist" on wages that are often below the poverty level. And finally, the letter calls for "public disclosure" of the exact addresses of every factory that produces official school-logo apparel. The administrations at Brown and Princeton universities have agreed to full public disclosure within the next year, a move that students say marks great progress in their movement. PAN also sent a more personal supplemental letter to Rodin. "I would like [Rodin] to agree to the four stipulations and I would like her to invite some student representatives to help come up with the language of a code that is appropriate for Penn and for the Ivy League as a whole," Joffe-Block said. The idea for the letter was conceived during a conference call between several Ivy student representatives approximately two weeks ago, according to Joffe-Block. E-mail messages were exchanged and finally the letter -- recently sent to each Ivy League school except Dartmouth -- was drafted. Now that an official response date has been set, students are hoping to see "some kind of public response," Champagne said.
(02/26/99 10:00am)
The University is still actively seeking to bring new recruits to the besieged department. Still reeling from last year's loss of two junior professors and the planned retirements of five senior faculty members over the next three years, the nearly 20-member Political Science Department will have a "new complexion" by this May at the latest, according to Political Science Department Chairperson Ian Lustick. College of Arts and Sciences Dean Richard Beeman said last month that the University-wide task force now actively seeking recruits will have up to a half-dozen offers to senior political scientists by the end of the year. But one such recruit, Jim Snyder, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology -- whom department officials had previously said was the most likely recruit to accept an offer -- said he was still undecided about whether he would come to Penn. "My interest is contingent on other peoples' interest," Snyder said, adding that his decision will not be made until the department finishes all its interviews. Snyder emphasized that he would be very interested in coming "in a package" with other professors and noted that he would "not be crazy about just coming by [himself]." Although Snyder declined to name exactly whom this "package" would include, School of Arts and Sciences Dean Sam Preston said the deal probably would involve three or four other professors. Preston confirmed that Snyder's potential hiring -- which includes an offer of a salary increase, an endowed faculty chair position and the right to recruit more faculty to the department -- involves "coalition-formation issues." Snyder's specialty is American Politics -- an area that the department has expressed interest in improving. Snyder said he did not know when he would officially decide whether or not to accept the offer -- which has been on the table since at least last summer -- but acknowledged the proceedings are "definitely still in progress." He expects the process to "drag on into the spring." The University has spent the year negotiating, interviewing and dealing with various political science professors from around the country -- all in a concerted effort to rebuild a department that has recently witnessed the exodus of some of its most well-respected members. Two assistant professors in the department left last spring. Daniel Deudney, who taught a popular introductory International Relations lecture course, was forced to leave after not having been granted tenure after his seventh year at Penn. Shortly thereafter, Marissa Golden -- who taught the introductory course in American Politics -- announced her intention to leave, citing concerns for her own job security. Deudney accepted an offer to teach at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, while Golden returned to teach at her alma mater, Bryn Mawr College. The department was dealt yet another blow when Paul Light, a top American Politics scholar and currently a director at the Philadelphia-based Pew Charitable Trusts, refused an offer over the summer to join the department and direct the Fels Center of Government. And while the average top-10 political science department has 42 faculty members, Penn's is less than half that size. The department did score one success, however, hiring International Relations scholar David Rousseau away from the State University of New York at Buffalo last March. Despite the setbacks, administrators remain confident that they can successfully land quality candidates before the end of the school year. According to Lustick, there has been a "tremendous amount of activity," as University administrators have tried vigorously to rebuild the department. "I'm very optimistic about the coming year," Lustick said recently. And Preston said he is "for the first time optimistic." While the exact number of recruits is not yet known, Preston did acknowledge the potential for a "major announcement" in the near future. According to Beeman, it would be a "stunning success" for the department if it could successfully hire this currently anonymous recruit.
(02/25/99 10:00am)
Virgil Percec, a leading organic chemist at Case Western Reserve University, will begin next year. Ending a long-standing recruitment slump, the Chemistry Department will officially hire a senior faculty member tomorrow, marking its first new hire in nearly three years. Virgil Percec, a full Chemistry professor at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, will arrive at Penn on June 1 and will serve as a senior faculty member beginning next year, Chemistry Department Chairperson Hai-Lung Dai said yesterday. "We are elated about his coming," Dai said, adding that Percec will be a "terrific addition" to the department. Percec, 52, is considered one of the world's leading polymer scientists. He is currently the editor of the Journal of Polymer Science and is the Case Professor of Chemistry at Case Western. Percec said his expertise was "on the borderline between organic chemistry and polymer chemistry." Though he doesn't yet know which classes he will teach at the University, Percec said he would eventually like to teach a combination of undergraduates and graduates. When the nearly 30-member Chemistry Department first contacted him about the position last summer, Percec said he had not been "looking to move." But the opportunity to influence his field at an Ivy League institution, coupled with the "terrific group of people" that he said comprise Penn's Chemistry Department, sealed Percec's decision to accept the position. But while he said he is certainly excited about his new position, he does sentimentally regard Case Western as his "first home? in this country." "I've dedicated a lot of time, I've dedicated a lot of enthusiasm to this place," he said. The hiring is the first in what the Chemistry faculty members hope will be a series of new appointments to fill the new facility and the beleaguered department. Though it has actively tried to recruit senior faculty from other universities throughout the past two years, this is the first sign of success. And of the four chemistry disciplines -- physical, biological, organic and inorganic -- hiring a professor who specialized in organic chemistry, like Percec, was the top priority. "[Percec] will undoubtedly interact greatly with other research groups in the department and other groups on campus," Chemistry Professor Alan MacDiarmid said. For Dai, the new appointment is particularly important given the department's current lack of professors who deal specifically with organic polymers. Percec's research should complement MacDiarmid's discovery of inorganic "conducting polymers" -- an achievement lauded by Dai as a "landmark kind of contribution." MacDiarmid, who is currently in his 42nd year at Penn, said he expects Percec to "fit in really delightfully." "I personally am absolutely delighted that he'll be joining the faculty, since he has a very broad reputation in his field," he said. Percec will work mainly in the state-of-the-art Roy and Diana Vagelos Laboratories, which opened last November adjacent to the main Chemistry Building. Percec was born in Romania and defected to the United States 20 years ago. After doing his postdoctoral work at the University of Akron in Ohio, he was offered a position at Case Western in 1982. Officials did not say whether any other hirings are imminent.
(02/23/99 10:00am)
While students at other schools staged protests, Penn has seen limited activity on the issue. While protests, sit-ins and rallies have recently punctuated campus life at several Ivy League universities, it's been mostly business as usual at Penn. Many students at other Ivy institutions have spent at least part of the past week publicly condemning the use of sweatshops to produce official school-logo apparel. But at Penn, the issue has garnered little attention among students and has generated little public activity from administrators. No rallies have been held on campus and while officials said they plan on developing Penn's sweatshop policy in close contact with other schools, the University did not attend a conference in New York City last week where the other seven Ivies discussed possible guidelines to prevent university-licensed apparel from being produced at sweatshops. Still, several students say they're not surprised by the lack of general involvement. "We're not what you would call an activist student body," College sophomore Richard Lataille said. And Michael Lau, a Wharton freshman, said he's noticed that Penn students tend to be "much more indifferent and complacent about things." The last major student protest at Penn was in response to Chinese President Jiang Zemin's visit to campus in the fall of 1997. Around 80 students gathered near the University Museum at 33rd and Spruce streets for an Amnesty International-led protest. However, when Zemin visited Harvard University during the same trip, around 4,000 demonstrators protested his arrival at the Cambridge, Mass., school. With regard to sweatshops, the only evidence of activism on campus these days is a plan by the Progressive Activist Network to form a subcommittee that would address the issue. College junior Miriam Joffe-Block, a member of PAN, said the subcommittee is open to all Penn students and will deal specifically with the sweatshop controversy. Joffe-Block said she first heard about the sweatshop issue from a student at Cornell University. She credited students at other Ivy League universities for showing "incredible initiative." Though action was taken at other schools through rallies and protests which elicited national attention and effected change, Joffe-Block said "it's best if [Penn] can resolve things at a meeting-type organizational level." She explained that she'd ultimately like to see students and administrators working in a "collaborative effort" to develop a code of conduct for factories that produce goods with collegiate logos. She also said she has been told there is a group of administrators working on the issue. Meanwhile, students at other schools have recently challenged their administration and made tangible progress. Following a rally of about 300 Princeton students -- where sweatshop working conditions and student responsibilities were discussed -- the administration agreed this weekend to publicly release a list of every manufacturing site around the world that produces official Princeton clothing. But according to Penn College senior Michelle Weinberg, mobilizing a large number of Penn students for such a cause is not an easy task. According to Weinberg, who is head of the Penn Environmental Group and a Daily Pennsylvanian columnist, there is only a "very small group of people [at Penn] who are motivated enough to do activist" activities. Joffe-Block, however, said that Penn students are not apathetic -- just traditionally politically inactive. "Penn is labeled as apathetic but the truth is we have a lot of students who are engaged and active in organizations, but not many of them are political," said Joffe-Block. According to Undergraduate Assembly Chairperson Bill Conway, a Wharton junior, the UA currently has no specific plans to address the issue, but he said he does consider the matter worthy of the UA's attention. "If members of the UA feel that this is an important issue to undergraduates, then yes, it is our responsibility," Conway added.
(02/19/99 10:00am)
Several distinguished scholars spoke as grants were awarded for research in the humanities. It may not totally erase Penn's reputation as a university for pre-professionals, but the new Penn Humanities Forum could at least guarantee an increased emphasis on the liberal arts across the campus. The presentation of six different research fellowships and eight speakers -- including University President Judith Rodin, National Endowment for the Humanities Chairperson William Ferris and History Professor Sheldon Hackney, who preceded Rodin and Ferris in their respective positions -- highlighted the Forum's opening ceremony yesterday. Around 200 students, faculty members and administrators attended the event in College Hall. The Humanities Forum is a research center for undergraduates interested in the humanities. In addition, the Forum intends to facilitate intellectual exchange between faculty members of different academic departments and involve the Philadelphia community in humanities-related activities and discussion. Operating out of Bennett Hall, the Forum will also host several visiting scholars next year. Ferris, who received his doctorate from Penn and was appointed the NEH's chairperson in 1997, was the event's keynote speaker. Ferris told the audience that he was "here to preach the humanities out loud." He praised Penn for its continued emphasis on providing a strong liberal arts education to its students. "You are delivering the humanities message where it belongs," Ferris said. And he advised the audience to pay no heed to the popular belief that a liberal arts education isn't practical in the workplace or good preparation for post-college life. "We can narrow the gap between academic life and what we call 'real life,'" Ferris said. "Our job is to make Huckleberry Finn and King Lear relevant to kids on the street in West Philadelphia and to adults on Wall Street," Ferris explained. Finally, Ferris surprised the crowd by temporarily leaving the microphone and picking up a guitar on the left side of the stage. A scholar of the American South, Ferris proceeded to entertain the audience with a soulful rendition of the blues classic "Baby Please Don't Go." Rebecca Bushnell, an English Professor and associate dean for arts and letters, began the ceremony by specifying some of the Humanities Forum's ultimate goals. "Such a forum would allow us to connect what we do in the humanities with other disciplines in the school, but also with the world at large," Bushnell said. Rodin spoke next, praising the Forum's creators for their "extraordinary vision" in developing the program. "Nothing is more fundamental to the life of a great academic institution than the humanities," Rodin said, citing the Humanities Forum as an effective initiative that "combines theory and practice." According to Rodin, while acquiring practical "skills" is certainly an integral part of a well-rounded education, "we also must try to always ask 'why' if we're going to find the meaning of life." Rodin also noted that next year's topic for undergraduate research will be "Human Nature." Those students who applied for fellowships were required to submit a research proposal based on that general topic. English Department Chairperson and Forum Director Wendy Steiner announced that she would be one of several professors teaching a course on Human Nature next year, although the research topics will change annually. College sophomore Sara Nasuti, the program manager for Perspectives in Humanities -- an undergraduate living-learning program located in Harrison College House and Kings Court/English College House -- announced the winners of the six different undergraduate research fellowships. Nasuti is also a Daily Pennsylvanian staff photographer. Jed Gross, a College freshman, received a $1,500 grant for winning the Undergraduate Research Prize with his proposal -- which he described as an "intellectual history of work and play." And College juniors Jane Hill, Andrew Zitcer and Tamara Walker, along with College sophomores David Muir and Sharese Bullock, each won $300 fellowships for their respective proposals. In her address to the crowd following Rodin, Steiner claimed that Penn "is and must remain at heart a liberal-arts institute," refuting the notion that the humanities, as a discipline, are currently "in trouble." Other speakers for the event included Joseph Farrell, professor of Classical Studies, Sheldon Hackney, former Penn president and former NEH chairman, Gary Tomlinson, Annenberg professor of Music, Nancy Vickers, president of Bryn Mawr College.
